Konoha
Konohagakure (木ノ葉隠れの里, Konohagakure no Sato; Literally meaning "Village Hidden by Tree Leaves"; also known as "Village Hidden by the Leaves" or "Hidden Leaf Village") is the hidden village of the Land of Fire. As one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Konohagakure has a Kage as its leader known as the Hokage. There have been five official Hokage, the most recent being Tsunade. On a mountain overlooking the village from the north exists the Hokage Monument. Although Konoha which is known as the most powerful village possessing an elite shinobi army corps, much like the country in which it resides, has been relatively peaceful since the end of the Third Shinobi World War, it remains one of the most powerful villages in existence, and has great military power and influence, though this has waned in the past three years following the attacks by Orochimaru and Pain. The shinobi of this village wear blue or black shirts which may or may not have swirl patterns on the shoulders, along with matching coloured pants over a green flak jacket which also has a red swirl on the back, and pockets on the chest area. They also tend to wrap bandages around their legs. History Founding In the time before the creation of the ninja villages, ninja were organised into small mercenary clans that knew nothing but battle. Of the countless ninja clans, the Uchiha clan and the Senju clan were the strongest. After much bloodshed, the Senju clan offered a truce with the Uchiha. The leader of the Uchiha, Madara Uchiha objected, and was forced, by the rest of the Uchiha to accept. The Senju, the Uchiha, and the other clans conquered by the Uchiha came together to create Konohagakure. Hashirama Senju, the leader of the Senju, used his wood release abilities to produce much of the villages' infrastructure. For this reason he was selected to be the First Hokage by the villagers. Fearing that the Senju who were now in control of Konoha, would oppress them because they were their former rivals, Madara tried to gather support to overthrow Hashirama. However, no Uchiha would help, forcing him to take on Hashirama by himself. Madara was ultimately defeated at what would be called the Valley of the End and was believed to have died. After the battle, Konoha came into possession of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox after Mito sealed it with herself. To contain its power, the village began its trend of sealing the beast within members of the Uzumaki clan, a clan that the Senju, and thus the rest of Konoha, had close ties with. Hashirama gave the other tailed beasts in his possession to other newly-formed villages to promote peace. However this peace was short lived. Shinobi Wars Konoha took part in the first three ninja wars. Hashirama died during the First Shinobi World War, necessitating his brother replace him as Second Hokage. The Second would also die during the war, killed by Kumogakure's ninja, but he appointed Hiruzen Sarutobi as his successor before his death. Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, later led Konoha's forces during the Second Shinobi World War. Other than fighting across Amegakure, causing numerous clashes with Amegakure's Hanzō, little is known of Konoha's actions during the war. Decades later Konoha became involved in the Third Shinobi World War; Konoha fought Iwagakure, using Kusagakure as their battleground. Konoha was almost defeated, but Minato Namikaze helped turn the war back in their favour. Nine-Tails' Attack on Konoha After the end of the Third Shinobi World War, Minato was chosen as the Fourth Hokage. Soon after taking office Tobi snuck into the village and, after removing the Nine-Tails from its host, used it to attack Konoha. Minato was able to defeat Tobi, but later sacrificed his life to re-contain the Nine-Tails sealing the beast into his son, Naruto Uzumaki. Many ninja died defending the village that day and Naruto, now the beast's host was inadvertently blamed for its actions. Hyuuga Affair The Hyūga Affair (日向の件, Hyūga no Ken), as the incident is known nowadays in Kumogakure, happened nine years prior to the start of the series, while Kumogakure and Konohagakure were at war. To end it, they agreed to a peace treaty on the day of Hinata Hyūga's third birthday. The treaty was soon revealed to be nothing more than a cover when the Head Ninja of Kumogakure at the time, who was in Konoha to sign the treaty, attempted to kidnap Hinata in order to obtain the Byakugan and its secrets. The Head Ninja was killed in his attempt by Hinata's father, Hiashi Hyūga. Uchiha Clan Massacre Decades after Madara's rebellion, the Uchiha were removed from decisions regarding Konoha's development and future. When Konoha also began to suspect an Uchiha was behind the Nine-Tails' attack, the Uchiha, founders of the village, could no longer put up with such mistrust. The Uchiha clan began plotting a coup d'état that would wrest control of Konoha from the Senju. Itachi Uchiha was the only clan member to disagree with the clan's plans and became a spy for Konoha's leadership. After peace talks failed, Itachi was ordered to wipe out the clan. He, assisted by Tobi, killed all but one Uchiha: his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha. Honouring Itachi's request, Hiruzen Sarutobi protected Sasuke. Itachi himself became a criminal, hiding Konoha's involvement in the massacre by living as a fugitive for the rest of his life. He would ultimately die while fighting Sasuke eight years after the Uchiha's demise, hoping to make Sasuke a hero in Konohagakure and restore his clan's honour. Joint Otogakure-Sunagakure Invasion Around five years after the Uchiha clan massacre, Konoha was invaded by Otogakure and Sunagakure ninja during the final stage of the Chūnin Exams, in an attempt to end the peace and prosperity that Konoha alone had enjoyed since the Third Ninja War. The invaders were repelled, but Konoha suffered heavy casualties, amongst them was the Third Hokage. Although he was quickly replaced by Tsunade, recovery for the rest of Konoha's military forces was slow. The village became temporarily understaffed, leaving it unable to properly respond to events occurring in the interim, such as Sasuke Uchiha's defection. Pain's Invasion Three years after the failed Sand and Sound invasion, the Akatsuki Leader attacked the village in an effort to capture Naruto for the Nine-Tails sealed within him. Konoha's forces had some success while fighting the Pains individually, but could do nothing to stop the village's destruction by Pain's Shinra Tensei. Naruto returned to Konoha shortly afterwards (having been delayed by Danzō's actions) and defeated Pain to avenge the village and those that died in its defence. After Naruto convinced him that his actions were wrong, Pain gave his life to revive everyone that died during the invasion. Naruto has since then been celebrated as a hero of the village. Because of the attack, Konoha lost much of its economic and military capabilities, falling behind Iwagakure. Konoha's status as the most powerful village also passed onto Kumogakure. Tsunade was left in a coma from exhausting herself in protecting Konoha from Pain, causing Danzō Shimura to temporarily take office as her replacement. Danzō oversaw the start of the village's lengthy rebuilding process and dealt with the immediate aftermath of Pain's attack. Also, Sasuke's international crimes are now known to Konoha, which led the village to sever ties with him to prevent him from becoming a burden any longer, and officially brand him as a criminal to be killed. Fourth Shinobi World War Following Akatsuki's attack on Konoha and its other actions made against other ninja villages, the five Kage hold a Kage Summit to decide how to proceed with Akatsuki. The ninja villages join forces to combat Akatsuki and its leader, Tobi, sparking the Fourth Shinobi World War. Danzō is killed shortly after war is declared, but Tsunade wakes up from her coma in time to resume her position as Hokage and plan the village's actions during the war. Despite being under construction, the village is being used as a haven of sorts for the citizens of countries that were predicted to become battlefields such as Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost. Locations *Academy *Amaguriama *Dango Shop *Forty-Fourth Training Ground *Hokage Monument *Hokage Residence *Ramen Ichiraku *Jōnin Standby Station *Kikyō Castle *Konoha Archive Library *Konoha Aviary *Konoha Cemetery *Konoha Hospital *Konoha Hot Springs *Konohagakure Intelligence Division *Konoha Military Police Force *Konoha Orphanage *Memorial Stone *Mission Assignment Desk *Naka River *Naka Shrine *Shushuya *Third Training Ground *Uchiha Senbei *Yakiniku Q *Yamanaka Flowers *Akagahara (anime only) *Konoha Ninja Tool Research Facility: Detached Office (anime only) *Konoha Strict Correctional Facility (anime only) *Zeroth Training Ground (anime only) Clans Within the village there are very powerful and well respected clans. Of these there are four clans which are regarded as noble clans. These are the: Aburame, Akimichi, Hyūga and Uchiha clans.[3] All known clans in the village are: *Aburame Clan *Akimichi Clan *Hyūga Clan *Inuzuka Clan *Kurama Clan *Nara Clan *Sarutobi Clan *Senju Clan *Uchiha Clan *Yamanaka Clan Trivia *The second fanbook gives Konohagakure a population size of five out of five stars, a military strength of three out of five stars, and an economic strength of two out of five stars. It has the greatest population of all the five main shinobi villages. *The hiragana あん (an) is painted on the entrance gates of the village (one hiragana on each door). This means hermitage or retreat. In Kanji, the character is 庵. *Masashi Kishimoto stated that Konohagakure was modelled after his own hometown. *In the first Naruto volume, page 87, there's a sketch of downtown Konoha. If you look closely, you may also see a billboard with a cartoon version of Masashi Kishimoto with a paintbrush.